DeSoto Times-Tribune
Google to open Operations Center in region
By Bob Bakken
We don’t know exactly where it will be located yet, but the mega-giant internet service and product provider Google is set to add its first Operations Center (GOC) in Northwest Mississippi.
The facility, set to open late in 2020, will bring more than 350 new jobs wherever it is located.
Google made the announcement Thursday afternoon, Dec. 19.
“There’s a lot of other businesses that have located and operate there as well,” said Google spokeswoman Kayla Conti. “It was an attractive area for us.”
The establishment of this center represents the company’s commitment to continue growing its workforce across the country.
“We are confident Mississippi will be a great home for Google,” said Troy Dickerson, Vice President of Google Operations Centers. “This operations center will give us the opportunity to hire amazing local talent as we expand in the region.”
Conti said the GOC will focus on providing customer service to Google users.
“It will assist in things like answering phone calls, helping users with product troubleshooting, helping users and walking them step-by-step to troubleshoot, setting up ad campaigns for business customers, and more,” Conti said. “It’s really a way to give users and clients a more direct access for help. It’s a great way to make sure people are having the best experience with our products and our internet services.”
Mississippi’s U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith both hailed Google’s decision to locate in the state.
“Google’s decision to locate more than 350 jobs and their first U.S. Operations Center in Mississippi is a testament to our state’s great workforce and pro-growth policies,” Wicker said.
Hyde-Smith added, “North Mississippi is a great place to live, work, and play. Google will receive a warm welcome and find an excellent home here. It’s exciting to have Google contributing to the growing tech economy in our state.”
Google’s interest in the northwest part of Mississippi comes on the heels of Amazon’s entry into the Mid-South when it held its first-ever Small Business Academy on the Northwest DeSoto Center campus and its plan to construct a distribution center in north Memphis.
Wicker is also the chairman of the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet.
That subcommittee oversees matters relating to the telecommunications industry. Agencies within the committee’s jurisdiction include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).